


Burning London

by Capucine



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Burns, Fluff, Gen, Semi-Historical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-24
Updated: 2015-03-24
Packaged: 2018-03-19 11:56:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3609231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Capucine/pseuds/Capucine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When London catches fire, England is badly burned. Scotland, of all people, shows up there to help her in her moment of weakness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burning London

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure which burning of London this is. I hope you like it anyway.

England hiccuped, drawing what remained of her clothes around her. She could still feel the burns all along her skin, the way that it screamed in pain as she lay there in the stream. Behind her, London burned, great flames going up into the air.

Some of the burns were from direct fire; others came from the area that London was, a patch on her chest that kept a steady pain agonizing through her skeleton. She let out another wail, wishing the stream would put it out, wishing she didn't have to breathe, wishing the fire would just disappear.

No one was there to help her; she was lucky to get out of London at all. So many people being eaten up by flames; she could have been one of them.

It flared up again, and she let out a high-pitched scream, clutching at her chest; she didn't feel a chill due to her nakedness at all.

She was barely 12, if that; human years didn't apply, but she had thought herself so grown up until this happened. She wailed into the night, curling in on herself and ignoring her blackened skin.

That was when a heavy cloth fell on her. She didn't fight it, but when a strong pair of arms scooping her up bridal style, she started kicking, screaming.

“Hold on a second, lassie,” Scotland said. He was about fifteen, and it felt like he was a bigger, stronger, and better person than her half the time. “Can't have you out here naked.”

“Scotland,” she sobbed, “It hurts. It hurts.”

“I know,” he said, and he made sure she was tucked into the cloak. Apparently he did not want to see her nakedness. “You look like a tar baby.”

She screamed again, and curled into Scotland's chest.

He held her gingerly, aware of her burns. “Come on, lass. It's going to be all right.” He'd started to walk forward when she whimpered.

“No, no no no, it's not going to be all right, it hurts!” 

“Fires get put out eventually,” Scotland promised, and he stopped abruptly, by something of a campsite. Lord knew what he was even doing near London, but he couldn't have come at a better time.

He used a knife to cut off the singed parts of her hair first, letting her stay wrapped up in his cloak. Then, taking a deep breath to apparently steel himself, he opened up the cloak to treat the burns. “This'll help, runt.”

She almost welcomed the familiar nickname; it was better to be with Scotland than alone. She pulled her arms up over her chest, saying, “You're not supposed to--”

“Relax, I'm not interested in seeing you naked, runt.” Scotland began to apply the treatment, and gently and oh-so-soothingly, she could feel the fire cool down.

Scotland's face was beet red, like his hair, as he put some on her chest. As soon as he was done, he quickly wrapped her back up again.

She was still crying, but softer now. It was a dull pain, and one of her skinny arms reached out for Scotland. In normal circumstances, she would have called him mean names or mocked him; this time, she simply said, “Big Brother.”

He groaned, and said, “We're not on good terms because of this, okay?”

“Please?” she begged, feeling small and alone.

He sighed, and pulling back into his arms. He was leaning against a tree trunk, and he looked like he expected to be there the whole night. “All right, but only this once. Tomorrow, you're going to have to heal by yourself, runt.”

She curled against him, body feeling near dead, and he held her gently.

She thought she heard him mutter some profanities, but she was already near delirious, so she didn't know for sure.

His strong arms made it easy to fall asleep in some ways; she ended up drifting off an hour into the night.

When she woke up, he took her back to London. They didn't see each other on peaceful terms for a long time after that.


End file.
